End of primary system would be disaster for state GOP

By KATON DAWSON and BARRY WYNNFor the Herald-Journal

Published: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 8, 2013 at 1:46 p.m.

A group of organized individuals has recently mounted an effort to end Republican primaries in South Carolina. Under the guise of "purifying the party," these activists are working to take over the SCGOP's biannual state convention in May and change the party's rules.

With enough votes at the state convention, they could change the party rules and replace the primary system with nominations by convention. That would mean voters would no longer choose our party's nominees. Instead, the Republican candidates for everything from the U.S. Senate to the state House and even county councils would be selected in a closed room by a handful of power brokers backed by special interest groups.

We've been down that road before and the result was electoral disaster at the ballot box.

Tens of thousands of South Carolina conservatives would be disenfranchised. GOP majorities in Congress and the state legislature would be threatened. Our party would suffer and our important first-in-the-South presidential primary would be put at risk.

We will not sit idly by while this happens. And we hope you won't, either.

Few things are more sacred than our right to vote. The ballot box is what separates our nation from so many others. Voting is the cornerstone of our republic, which is why generations of American men and women have fought and died for it.

Here in the Palmetto State, it was the right to vote that also helped grow our now thriving Republican Party and propel us into being one of the most significant conservative states in the country.

For nearly two decades, we, the authors of this op-ed, had the honor of leading our state's Republican Party. We can remember the days when Republicans in this state were an endangered species. Believe it or not, there were times when finding a fellow Republican was about as likely as winning the lottery.

But a switch in our primary system changed all that.

Until the 1970s, South Carolina Republicans nominated their candidates by convention. As a result, voter participation was nonexistent and only a handful of the Republican candidates chosen were able to beat the Democrats they faced in a general election.

In 1974, the SCGOP did away with the convention system for nominating candidates. For the first time, Republican voters were allowed to decide who represented their party in November. That year, Republican voters chose Jim Edwards as their nominee for governor.

Edwards was the underdog. He faced an establishment candidate who would have likely won a convention nomination but lost a general election. Republican voters, however, favored Edwards, who won an upset victory in the July primary with 58 percent of the vote. A few months later, Edwards became the first Republican governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.

Six years after Edwards' historic election, our state held its first Republican presidential primary. In that election, South Carolina Republican primary voters single-handedly saved Ronald Reagan's candidacy. With a win here, Reagan received the boost he desperately needed to sweep the South, lock up the Republican nomination, win the White House and change the world as we know it today.

We've come a long way since then. We are now one of the reddest of the red states. But none of that would have been possible had we not ended the system of nominating by convention. To go back now would be a travesty.

We must save our primary.

We must save our primary for the 80-year-old grandmother who has voted in every single Republican election for more than 20 years. She helped elect Mick Mulvaney. She can't make the trip to the SCGOP Convention in Columbia, but she can certainly make it to the voting booth down the street.

Save our primary for the college student who cast his first vote for Tim Scott in the 1st District primary three years ago. He can't leave school to go to his precinct meeting and county convention in Charleston. If we do away with the primary system, his voice will be lost.

Save our primary for the father of two who works 14 hours every day at two full-time jobs to put food on the table for his wife and kids. After a long workweek, he only has time left for his family and church, not party politics. He did make it out to vote for Trey Gowdy, though.

We urge you to join us in the effort to save our primary system here in South Carolina. Please contact your local party chairman and attend your precinct meetings this month and county conventions next month. Without your involvement now, you could lose your right to vote forever.

To find out when and where your precinct meeting and county convention will be held, visit SCGOP.com or SaveOurPrimary.com.

Katon Dawson and Barry Wynn are former chairmen of the S.C. Republican Party.

<p>A group of organized individuals has recently mounted an effort to end Republican primaries in South Carolina. Under the guise of "purifying the party," these activists are working to take over the SCGOP's biannual state convention in May and change the party's rules.</p><p>With enough votes at the state convention, they could change the party rules and replace the primary system with nominations by convention. That would mean voters would no longer choose our party's nominees. Instead, the Republican candidates for everything from the U.S. Senate to the state House and even county councils would be selected in a closed room by a handful of power brokers backed by special interest groups.</p><p>We've been down that road before and the result was electoral disaster at the ballot box.</p><p>Tens of thousands of South Carolina conservatives would be disenfranchised. GOP majorities in Congress and the state legislature would be threatened. Our party would suffer and our important first-in-the-South presidential primary would be put at risk.</p><p>We will not sit idly by while this happens. And we hope you won't, either.</p><p>Few things are more sacred than our right to vote. The ballot box is what separates our nation from so many others. Voting is the cornerstone of our republic, which is why generations of American men and women have fought and died for it.</p><p>Here in the Palmetto State, it was the right to vote that also helped grow our now thriving Republican Party and propel us into being one of the most significant conservative states in the country.</p><p>For nearly two decades, we, the authors of this op-ed, had the honor of leading our state's Republican Party. We can remember the days when Republicans in this state were an endangered species. Believe it or not, there were times when finding a fellow Republican was about as likely as winning the lottery.</p><p>But a switch in our primary system changed all that. </p><p>Until the 1970s, South Carolina Republicans nominated their candidates by convention. As a result, voter participation was nonexistent and only a handful of the Republican candidates chosen were able to beat the Democrats they faced in a general election.</p><p>In 1974, the SCGOP did away with the convention system for nominating candidates. For the first time, Republican voters were allowed to decide who represented their party in November. That year, Republican voters chose Jim Edwards as their nominee for governor.</p><p>Edwards was the underdog. He faced an establishment candidate who would have likely won a convention nomination but lost a general election. Republican voters, however, favored Edwards, who won an upset victory in the July primary with 58 percent of the vote. A few months later, Edwards became the first Republican governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.</p><p>Six years after Edwards' historic election, our state held its first Republican presidential primary. In that election, South Carolina Republican primary voters single-handedly saved Ronald Reagan's candidacy. With a win here, Reagan received the boost he desperately needed to sweep the South, lock up the Republican nomination, win the White House and change the world as we know it today.</p><p>We've come a long way since then. We are now one of the reddest of the red states. But none of that would have been possible had we not ended the system of nominating by convention. To go back now would be a travesty.</p><p>We must save our primary.</p><p>We must save our primary for the 80-year-old grandmother who has voted in every single Republican election for more than 20 years. She helped elect Mick Mulvaney. She can't make the trip to the SCGOP Convention in Columbia, but she can certainly make it to the voting booth down the street.</p><p>Save our primary for the college student who cast his first vote for Tim Scott in the 1st District primary three years ago. He can't leave school to go to his precinct meeting and county convention in Charleston. If we do away with the primary system, his voice will be lost.</p><p>Save our primary for the father of two who works 14 hours every day at two full-time jobs to put food on the table for his wife and kids. After a long workweek, he only has time left for his family and church, not party politics. He did make it out to vote for Trey Gowdy, though.</p><p>We urge you to join us in the effort to save our primary system here in South Carolina. Please contact your local party chairman and attend your precinct meetings this month and county conventions next month. Without your involvement now, you could lose your right to vote forever.</p><p>To find out when and where your precinct meeting and county convention will be held, visit SCGOP.com or SaveOurPrimary.com.</p><p>Katon Dawson and Barry Wynn are former chairmen of the S.C. Republican Party.</p>